Explicación jurídica del proyecto necesario para reformar la Ley 5ª de 1992

I ain’t no psychiatrist, I ain i no doctor with degrees, but it don't take too much high IQ to see what you 're doin' to me.

— " T h i n k ” b y A re th a F r a n k lin a n d Ted W h ite , F o u r te e n th H o u r M u sic , B M I, 1968

In M a rc h 1921, a t a tim e w h en th e p rac tica l a p p lic a tio n o f m e n ta l te stin g w as b eg in n in g a d ra m a tic rise, a n d b efo re th e p u b lic co n tro v e rsy o ver th e A rm y te stin g resu lts h a d h ea te d up, th e J o u r n a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P sychology p u b lish e d a sy m p o siu m o n “ In tellig en ce a n d Its M e a s u re m e n t,” in w hich fo u rte e n o f th e m o st im p o r ta n t m e n ta l te ste rs briefly expressed th e ir views on th e to p ic a t h a n d .1 A su b sta n tia l m a jo rity o f th e se e x p e rts a p p e a re d to be in a g re e m e n t w ith w h at o n e te ste r called th e “ c o m m o n ly ac c e p te d defi­ n itio n o f in te llig e n c e ” as m e n ta l a d a p ta tio n to c h a n g in g e n v iro n m e n ta l stim u li (so m e tim e s called th e ca p ac ity to learn). M a n y also e m p h a siz e d th a t in tellig en ce is n o t a u n ita ry tra it, a n d th a t o n e m u s t m e asu re general in te lle c tu a l c a p ac ity by sa m p lin g a w ide v ariety o f its in te rre la te d su b c o m ­ p o n e n ts . T h e m a jo r so u rc e o f d is a g re e m e n t b e tw e e n re s p o n d e n ts c o n ­ c e rn e d th e b re a d th o f a d a p tiv e e x p e rien c e to be c o n sid e re d “ intellig en t.” F or e x a m p le , Lew is T erm a n felt th a t “ [a]n in d iv id u a l is in te llig e n t in p ro ­ p o rtio n as he is ab le to c a rry o n a b s tra c t th in k in g ,” 2 a n d w en t so far as to ca stig ate th o se w hose “ sense o f psychological values” w as so d istu rb e d as to believe th a t “ th e in d iv id u a l w ho flo u n d ers in a b s tra c tio n s b u t is ab le to h a n d le to o ls skillfully, o r play a go o d gam e o f baseball, is n o t to be c o n s id ­ ere d n ecessarily less in te llig e n t th a n th e in d iv id u a l w ho c a n solve m a th e ­ m a tic al e q u a tio n s , a c q u ire a h uge vocab u lary , o r w rite poetry.” A t th e o th e r e x tre m e . B row n U n iv ersity psy ch o lo g ist S. S. C o lv in asse rte d th a t “ in te l­ ligence te sts sh o u ld ex p lo re as m a n y asp ec ts o f h u m a n ab ility as possible.” 3 M o st re sp o n d e n ts agreed w ith T e rm a n to th e e x te n t th a t th e y in c lu d e d

so m e fo rm o f h ig h e r m e n ta l fu n c tio n , like a b s tra c t rea so n in g , p ro b le m solving, o r d ec isio n m a k in g , in th e ir d e fin itio n o f intellig en ce.

B esides th e n a tu re o f intelligence, tw o fu rth e r to p ic s w ere fre q u e n tly discussed by sy m p o siu m p a rtic ip a n ts. R e g ard in g th e ab ility o f in te llig en c e te sts to m e a su re in tellig en ce, th o se e x p e rts h o ld in g b ro a d e r d e fin itio n s w ere n a tu ra lly in c lin e d to believe th a t te sts w ere so m e w h a t lim ite d in c o n te n t. T h u s, for e x a m p le , T e rm a n ’s su ggestions fo r im p ro v in g te sts p ri­ m a rily in v o lv e d re fin e m e n ts o f ex istin g m o d els, w hile C o lv in asse rte d th a t tr u e p r a c tic a lity w o u ld re q u ir e te sts o f m u c h b r o a d e r sc o p e. O n th e h e rita b ility issue, a m o n g th o se ex p ressin g a n o p in io n , th e re w as u n a n ­ im o u s a g re e m e n t th a t te sts m e a su re d d ifferences in b o th in n a te c a p a c ity a n d a c q u ire d know ledge, a n d th a t in te llig en c e te sts b e c a m e b e tte r m e a ­ su res o f c a p a c ity as in d iv id u a l d ifferences in th e o p p o rtu n ity to a c q u ire k n ow ledge w ere eq u a liz ed .

Id e n tic a l o p in io n s o n th e h e re d ity -e n v iro n m e n t issue w ere expressed by tw elve m e n ta l te ste rs po lled by F ra n k F re e m a n in 1923.4 T h is survey, p u b ­ lish ed in th e C e n tu r y M a g a zin e , covered a w id er ran g e o f to p ic s th a n th e 1921 sy m p o siu m . In a d d itio n to a s ta te m e n t a b o u t in n a te ca p ac ity a n d ac q u ire d know ledge, F re e m a n w as ab le to get u n a n im o u s o r n e a r u n a n ­ im o u s a g re e m e n t to s ta te m e n ts in d ic a tin g th e u sefu ln ess o f in te llig en c e tests, th e ir valid ity as m e a su re s o f g en e ral m e n ta l ability, a n d th a t g ro u p differences in in te llig en c e are th e resu lt o f d ifferences in b o th e n v iro n m e n t a n d in h e rita n c e . L ike th e 1921 sy m p o siu m , th e c o n s e n su s b ro k e do w n w h en F re e m a n assessed a g re e m e n t w ith th e sta te m e n t th a t g en eral m e n ta l ab ility “ re p re se n ts ease o f le a rn in g in th e in te lle c tu a l field.” E x p e rts co u ld n o t agree as to w h at “th e in te lle c tu a l field” co m p rise d . S o m e b alk e d a t th e su g g e stio n o f ev e n a tte m p tin g to d e v e lo p a p rec ise d e fin itio n o f in te l­ ligence, c la im in g e ith e r th a t th e re w ere insu fficien t d a ta o r th a t th e q u e s­ tio n w as in c o n se q u e n tia l c o m p a re d to th e issues o f w h a t th e te sts w ere m e asu rin g , a n d th e possible uses to w h ich th e y co u ld be p u t.

T h e C e n tu ry M a g a z in e poll w as p u b lis h e d c o in c id e n t w ith th e first IQ controversy. T h e resu lts o f th e poll w ere in strik in g c o n tra s t to th e view s expressed by th e p o p u la r critics o f th e day, w h o c la im e d th a t in te llig en c e te sts h a d little to d o w ith intelligence, a n d th a t d ifferences in te st scores w ere m o stly th e re su lt o f d ifferences in tra in in g . C ritic s also p o rtra y e d m e n ta l te ste rs, in c o rre c tly a c c o rd in g to th e C e n tu r y po ll, as b elie v in g th e m se lv es to be in p ossession o f p u re m e a su re s o f in n a te ab ility (see th e d isc u ssio n o f W alter L ip p m a n n ’s c o m m e n ts in C h a p te r 1). O n e a re a w here th e critics seem e d to be rig h t a b o u t th e te ste rs was th e ir in a b ility to agree o n a d e fin itio n o f in tellig en ce, a t least in its p a rtic u la rs.

T h e d isa g re e m e n t a m o n g te stin g e x p e rts a b o u t a d e fin itio n o f in te l­ ligence a p p a re n t in th e 1921 a n d 1923 p olls m ay very well be a n a c c u ra te

The Nature of Intelligence 45

r e p re s e n ta tio n o f e x p e rt o p in io n a t th e tim e . It m ig h t also reflect th e lack o f a n y a tte m p t to c o n s o lid a te resp o n ses a n d lo o k fo r u n d e rly in g unity. Iro n ­ ically, th e te c h n iq u e best su ited to disco v er su ch h id d e n stru c tu re , fa c to r analysis, w as d ev e lo p e d as a re su lt o f th e m e n ta l te stin g m o v e m en t. Yet, it w as sixty years befo re a n y o n e a tte m p te d to ap p ly fa c to r an a ly sis to o p in ­ io n s a b o u t th e n a tu re o f in telligence. In 1981, R o b e rt S te rn b e rg a n d his colleagues p u b lish e d th e resu lts o f a survey in w h ich a g ro u p o f lay p erso n s a n d a g ro u p o f p sy c h o lo g ists c o n d u c tin g re se a rc h o n in te llig e n c e w ere asked how c h a ra c te ristic each o f 250 b eh a v io rs is o f an ideally in te llig en t p e rs o n .5 T h e ratin g s o f th e tw o g ro u p s w ere re m a rk a b ly sim ilar. M o re im p ressiv e, th e ratin g s w ith in e a ch g ro u p c o u ld be largely e x p la in e d by th re e u n d e rly in g fac to rs (c o m p o n e n ts o f intelligence). A m o n g laypersons th e se fac to rs w ere lab eled “ p ra c tic a l p ro b le m -s o lv in g ability,” “ verbal a b il­ ity,” a n d “ social c o m p e te n c e .” A m o n g e x p e rts th e y w ere “ verbal in te l­ li g e n c e , ” “ p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g a b i l i t y , ” a n d “ p r a c t i c a l in t e l l i g e n c e .” (S te rn b e rg drew m u c h o f th e im p e tu s fo r his ow n T riarch ic T heory, in w h ich p ra c tic a l intellig en ce plays a p ro m in e n t role, fro m th e resu lts o f th is survey.) T h e la tte r re su lt le n d s c re d en ce to th e c o n te n tio n o f th e APA ad h o c C o m m itte e o n E d u c a tio n a l U ses o f Tests w ith D isa d v a n ta g e d S tu ­ d e n ts, in resp o n se to critics o f testing, th a t “ th e re is a c o n se n su s a m o n g